Auxiliary cutter for lawn mowers



June 16, 1936. N, H, DURST 2,044,159

AUXILIARY CUTTER FOR LAWN MOWERS Filed April 2, 1934 PI-gl I INVENTOR.

NQRMAN H. OUEST 37 ATTORNEY.

Patented June 16, 1936 UNITED `kSTATES PATENT* QFFICE AUXILIARY CUTTER FOR LAWN MOWEBS Norman H. Durst, Moundrldge, Kans.

Application April 2, 1934, Serial No. 718,636

2`Claims. (Cl. 56-238) This invention relates to lawnmowers and particularly to an auxiliary cutter adapted to be removably mounted thereon. The object of the irl-'i vention is to provide an easily removable Aattachment having certain novel features whereby tall grass, weeds and other foreign growth will be effectively cut in advance of the regular cutter on the mower.

It is also the object of the invention to provide an eilcient, inexpensive and easily manufactured cutting attachment and position the same on the lawnmower so that there will be little or no danger of the cutting blades contacting foreign objectsl with attendant damaging results. A further object of the invention is toprovide a shearing or cutting unit which will have a positive shearing action and will not be sprung under abnormal cutting conditions.

The following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing will clearly illustrate the novel construction and operation of the invention. The reference numerals in the speciilcation correspond with similar numerals in the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a lawnmower showing the auxiliary cutter applied.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2---2A of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through'the cutting blades on the line 3-3 of Figure l. t

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-'4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the assembled cutter ready for attachment to the lawnmower.

The general construction of lawnmowers being old and well understood, the common parts thereof will not be specifically described herein although reference numerals will be given them to better describe the manner ofattachment and operation of the auxiliary cutter comprising the invention.

'I'he rotary cutter I, Journaled in side frames 2 and 3 is motivated by gear teeth 4 on the traction wheel '5, rotatably mounted on shaft 3 also carrying traction wheel 1. The straight cutting blade 8 adjustably mounted to side plates 2 and 3 coacts with rotary cutter I to perform the cutting action. Roller 9 is adjustably carried in extensions III and II lof the side frames 2 and 3.

The auxiliary cutter consists of a horizontally disposed, transverse cutting unit I2 with upper and lower blade portions I3 and I4 having spaced teeth I6 and Il united at their forward points as shown at I8. A longitudinally reciprocabie cutting blade I9 is slidably carried between and in close contact with the blade portions I3 and I4 and also has spaced teeth 20. At the rear of blade I9 is a depending flange 2| bearing against rear edge 22 of lower blade portion I4, providing a longitudinal guide for the reciprocal move- 5 ment of blade I9. Bolts 23 pass through blade I3, elongated slots 24 in blade I9 and through blade, providing retaining means for the reciprocating blade I9. A

At one end of member I2 is a bearing 23 in 10 which is rotatably mounted shaft 29 to the outer end of which is secured a gear 21 meshing -with gear teeth 4 on tractor wheel 5 through aperture 28 in end frame 2. The other end of shaft 28 carries a crank lever 29 pivotally supporting a 15 connecting rod 30 the other end of which is pivoted to pin 3l intermediate the ends of and integral with the cutting blade I9 and retained thereon by suitable means. Flanges 32 at the ends of blade I9 have'grooves 33, corresponding 20 with ridges or ribs 34 on spokes 35 of endI frames 2 and 3. Set screws 36 and lock nuts 31 are' provided for securely locking the auxiliary cutter in operating position.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that 25 the operation of mounting the auxiliary cutting attachment is very simple, it being only a matter of sliding the grooved flanges 32 in position on the ribbed spokes 35 until gear 21 meshes with gear teeth 4 on tractor wheel 3, tightening set 3o screws 36 and locking them withfnuts 31.

To operate the auxiliary cutter the lawnmower is pushed forward in the usual manner. Movement of the traction wheel 5 actuates gear 21, crank lever 29, connecting rod 30 and movable 35 cutting blade I3, which, in commotion with upper and lower blades I3 and I4 severs the tall grass, weeds and the like at a heighth where the ordinary rotary cutter can effectively mow the balance of th growth.` 40

The novel cutting unit I2 as herein applied to a lawnmower is particularly eiective in overcoming strains incident to the shearing process of heavy grass, weeds and other growth: As described and illustrated the cutting unit I2 with its upper blade I3, lower blade I4 and intermediate reciprocating blade I9 forms a compact, positive acting and highly efiicient cutter. Obviously slight changes in form, proportion and details of construction'may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and all -rights to such reasonable changes as may come within the scope of this invention are hereby reserved. 56

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An attachment i'or lawnmowers comprising an auxiliary, transverse cutter capable of being mounted between and being secured to the end frames of a lawnmower, said cutter comprising a fixed cutting blade and a longitudinally reciprocable cutting blade, means for reciprocating the second mentioned blade, said means comprising a. bearing on the fixed cutting blade, a shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing, a. gear on one end of the shaft and meshing with the gear teeth on one traction wheel oi' the lawnmower, a lever on the other end of the shaft and necting rod pivotally connected to the crank 10 lever and to the movable cutting blade to cause a reciprocatory movement to be imparted to said movable cutting blade.

NORMAN H. DURST. 

